LONDON - Brazil could lose up to £32 billion ($53 billion) to corruption this year, a figure that if invested in health could double the number of hospital beds, or house 2.9 million families, official figures reveal. A recent study by the Federation of the Industries of the State of Sao Paolo revealed that the South American country loses 1.38 percent-2.3 percent of its GDP to kickbacks and bribes annually, International Business Times reports. With a GDP of £1.36 trillion in 2012 predicted to rise by 2.5 percent this year, the country could thus lose between £19 billion and £32 billion this year alone, the news website said.

LONDON - Secret networks of Freemasons have been used by organised crime gangs to corrupt the criminal justice system, according to a report by London’s Metropolitan Police leaked to British newspaper The Independent. Operation Tiberius, written in 2002, found underworld syndicates used their contacts in the controversial brotherhood to “recruit corrupted officers” inside Scotland Yard, and concluded it was one of “the most difficult aspects of organised crime corruption to proof against,” the newspaper reports.

PETALING JAYA, Malaysia - Seven out of 10 top executives in Malaysia believe bribery and corruption are part and parcel of doing business in the country, according to a survey released today by one of the world's largest audit firms, KPMG, The Malay Mail reports. KPMG's Fraud, Bribery and Corruption Survey 2013 found that 71 percent of respondents “believed that bribery and corruption is an inevitable cost of doing business,” the newspaper said. The survey, which polled executives from 100 listed companies, also revealed that 64 percent of respondents believed businesses in Malaysia cannot function without paying bribes, the newspaper added.